An undiplomatic Ambassador

The UK Ambassador to Washington made wrong judgements in his leaked memo. He showed he favours the Democrat criticisms of Mr Trump to the President. He should deliver balanced analysis with temperate language. What is “inept” about a Presidency that has delivered its main promises to electors? Why use the phrase “knife fights” to describe normal arguments over tactics and policy within a government?

By all means report the Democrat critique of the President, but do not make it the official view in the memo. That shows lack of judgement and fails to reflect the political realities in Washington. Of course the memo should have been kept private, but it reveals an attitude of mind which will impede the Ambassador in his dealings with the President and his immediate circle.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

174 Comments

The language is totally inappropriate and undiplomatic and it matters not a jot that it was meant to be private. Where on earth are these highly paid civil servants coming from? He should resign and if he refuses, should be sacked without compensation for gross misconduct

His job is to report what is going on. The person who needs to be sacked – and prosecuted – is the leaker. Almost certainly a Brexiteer – probably a minister. The list of possible culprits is not long and I know who my money is on.

Really? I would have said this has all the hallmarks of an anti Brexit dirty trick. There is much manufactured antipathy to the idea of a trade deal with the US, with all sorts of spurious claims regarding the NHS and chlorinated chicken.

Let’s just upset relations with the US and put the kibosh on an early deal with them. Then it would be “where are your big trade deals now, Brexiteers?”

Sir Kim’s recklessness has caused enormous damage to Britain’s relationship with the United States, just when so many, led by the Queen, had worked so hard with the state visit to strengthen it. By sending such undiplomatic comments via email.

He should resign.

How much more damage is May going to do before she leaves ? Why is she still there ???

He clearly must resign as he clearly cannot possibly now do his job properly any longer. What is the silly man waiting for? A pay off agreement perhaps? Why did May say she still have confidence in him?

Not sure about this. His comments are banal offer no insight and could come straight out the left wing press. And indeed are wrong – he pushed the Russia nonsense and seems not to be aware trumps tax cuts and deregulation have delivered a boom. But he is the appointed ambassador. Had trump done what any other president would have done and ignored it he could have been quietly removed. As it is we will have to leave him there until January.

Jeremy Hunt says Trump is ‘disrespectful and wrong’ and vows to keep Darroch as US ambassador if he becomes PM.

What a complete dope Theresa in Trousers is! Is he trying to lose the 25% of votes he is likely to scrape together? Plus throw the next election. Surely an even bigger gaff than his reopening hunting debate statement.

Dear Lifelogic–Did he really say he would keep Darroch? What does he propose to do when Trump cold-shoulders him? How indeed could anybody, however one looks at it, expect Trump to carry on even a remote relationship with him? Hunt should revisit whom he should be nice to. Maintaining a good relationship with the POTUS is a very high priority and Hunt’s sensibilities are for the birds.

Hopefully, sometime in the near future, you will find out that the UK is permanently operated by circa 4,000 Senior Civil Servants and their teams. Very clever kiddies; devoted to enhancing the socio-economic welfare of their fellow citizens; including, their own mums and dads, brothers and sisters; sons and daughters.

Their biggest problem they have is overcoming the fantasies of here today gone tomorrow, illiterate, enumerate elected amateur politicians; thrown up by an equally illiterate, enumerate electorate, that doesn’t know its UK arse from its EU elbow.

Imagine if a large public corporation was run that way. Would you buy shares in it?

Oh dear! It’s a bit of a diplomatic gaffe is it not? Individuals who post to your blog and who question the intelligence of millions of people should ensure they understand the meaning of their choice of words before they do so.

One might even say they do not know their enumerate arse from their innumerate elbow.

Your theory of allowing an unelected elite to rule over us peasants for our benefit using the assumption that these people know what is best for us has been proved to lead to a murderous disaster in numerous nations over the last century.

acorn these ‘very clever kiddies’ running the show behind the scenes are being accused of leaking confidential communications on a regular basis now. When it suits the government or opposition they’ll track down and find the leakers when it doesn’t …that’s the last we hear of it.

We often don’t have a personal choice in which organisations our pensions and savings are invested in and often times they are inept losing our money without recourse. Including our local Councils who made poor investments in Iceland and we all had to pay more rates to top up their failings.

None of these Darroch defenders have considered the implications of his criticism of the Trump administration and how they relate to his own organisations failures. It seems to me the civil service being unable to ensure that private and confidential correspondence remains so is a serious sign of dysfunctionality, especially when that is the very purpose of the diplomatic service. Not only he should be sacked for being so casual in his correspondence but the head of the civil service as he clearly runs an inept and dysfunctional administration.

Indeed. He has now got zero credibility with the Administration and will be excluded from everything but amazingly still has Mrs Mays support! Incredible judgement by the worst Prime Minister in history. Your Party has fallen far and keeps scoring own goals. Why is Grieve, Boles etc still allowed the whip? You may never recover from these last three years of maladministration as there is zero belief in anything that is said!

The US departs the Paris Agreement next December, with Presidential elections in November. Trump must be got rid of come what may, so the Democrats can get the US back into the UN climate fold. If he is re-elected, the US will be out of the Paris deal and its successor legislation, the thought of which is producing much angst around the world.

It seems the UK is to host the annual IPCC beanfest known as the Conference of the Parties in 2020. This is all very significant, as the currently spreading climate emergency virus is intended to get a legally binding deal on global “carbon” taxation, which they have failed to do since Kyoto. Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030 are the elephants in room here. The UK has been one of the main players all along and what better triumph than to fulfil their objective at a UK hosted event.

The person or persons who leaked the emails or facilitated the leak must be prosecuted and we won’t wear any attempt at protecting them by claiming it isn’t possible to discover those responsible. That will be an admission that no secret information is secure. The crime must be a breach of the Official Secrets Act and a long jail sentence must follow.

It seems to me that as soon as the leak took place, whoever did it, the Ambassador should have resigned. After the revelation of such intemperate language and bad judgement, all authority and respect have deserted him. His position is untenable. In the past, if such a thing had happened, swift resignation would have been automatic.

Now it appears that the present PM has set a new standard: no matter how badly you perform, no matter how much of a laughing stock you become, cling on to office and its trappings, whatever the cost to the country.

It seems to me these leaks from the Civil Service (if that is where they are from) are all connected: the Boris and intelligence leak, the frail old Corbyn leak, and now this, are all destabilising to Brexit. Huge damage is being done to our body politic and our national reputation, as well as our alliances, but to the Brexit deranged, it seems no price is too high.

The one thing that is encouraging however is that the Remainer deep state must be in a panic to attempt these desperate acts. However they are succeeding, I know some people (not particularly political but aware) who are absolutely terrified about the future following all this “uncertainty”. They fret about the NHS, they fret we don’t have enough nurses to go round, they fret that we will be cut off from food and supplies and that we will literally go under. As much as I try to reassure them, they prefer it seems to cling on to these visions of Armageddon.

Remember the time when you just blamed the EU for all your woes? Now for your Brexit to make sense there has to be a mass conspiracy involving hundreds of MPs, the BBC, high court judges, Airbus, the car industry, every living prime minister, Labour, the Lib Dems, the Scottish government, Leo Varadkar, the vast majority of economists, Angela Merkel, the Greens, the pharmaceutical industry, the Governor of the Bank of England, the main stream media, Gary Linekar, the CBI, the TUC, universities, the civil service and many more.

Because your Brexit is going so woefully and so predictably wrong (as even President Trump says today – you conclude that the problem must be everyone else. All of these people and groups involved in a mass conspiracy.
Alternately, maybe Brexit is the problem?

Which is more like to be true. A mass conspiracy involving just about everyone who is not a numpty – or the flawed policy of Brexit backed by pretty much every numpty. Hmmm. There’s a thinker.

“There’s a thinker”
Not really Andy.
The process of leaving the EU has been undertaken by people who really want to remain in the EU.
That is why 3 years after the referendum we are still in the EU.
The people and organisations you list are all pro EU.

A very considered response, Rose. I, too, saw it as part of the undemocratic manoeuvres to derail or hamper Brexit – and fitting in perfectly with the leaks regarding Boris and Corbyn. Timing, as they say, is everything.

I agree that Darroch should resign. He is supposed to be the UK government’s representative. Not only has he totally fudged relations with the White House, but probably the rest of his diplomatic career – no matter where he is next posted, how will his host country perceive him knowing what he might be saying about them?

Why should the Ambassador resign? he was only doing his job, would you prefer that we had diplomats abroad making it up as they go along.
What he said about Trump was tame enough- so there’s no need for resignations. What we need now are more good hard working people doing this work on behalf of the nation and not a herd of sheep

Ambassador? He’s been there for 3 years and Trump says he doesn’t even know him. Brilliant job. What influence he has brought to the UK with America? Time serving waster like most of them by the look of it.

That’s a very good point Graham, it makes me wonder who did Sir Kim meet with lots and know well in this current administration, did none of them have a good word for our Ambassador to Trump?
How can he have been in the role for three years and not made any inroads with the President or his close advisors surely this can’t be right.

From a political point of view the Ambassador is now dead in the water, and useless to us as any sort of go between, so he needs to be replaced ASAP.

No his views (no matter good or bad) should not have ever made public reading, and the person responsible for the publication of such MUST be found, and dealt with accordingly, as clearly they cannot be trusted to ever work in Government again, no matter who they are.

But

Can we trust No 10 to investigate properly given the fiasco of recent times over supposed leaks !

A torch has been shone and now the swamp clearing must take place and an electoral system reformed, fit for the 21st Century. Stop postal voting unless in exceptional circumstances and gain some credibility back in the system.

You are of course correct and it is positive that Mr Hunt has been clear that he does not share the views of the ambassador. What is remarkable is that PM May can express confidence in an ambassador that uses such colourful language – what insightful analysis has been generated by his name calling? If this the best the UK has it is an embarrassment to the country; there is much to improve.

Various remainer politicians, pundits, and reporters are telling us in all earnestness that we must keep Darroch in place because otherwise we would be taking a subservient position and allowing Trump to tell us what to do. This is disgraceful. Trump should not have had to say he would not work with this man. Honour and courtesy are not subservient, and they would have ordained in normal times that a resignation was required immediately.

It already has; he was dis-invited to a White House dinner on Monday. He is now damaged goods. Who set him up and why is the mystery. That said I agree with you that more measured and balanced language might have been expected from such a source, especially in the fevered atmosphere in Washington that followed Trump`s unexpected election.

There is also the awkward matter of the Steele (ex MI6) memo which was used by Democrat interests to promote the Russian collusion/election interference charges, later investigated by Mueller. These unravel by the day.

Try.p is pushing back the big state and they don’t like it. The remainers in the Civil Service are globalist big state believers. That is why they love the EU.
Hopefully Boris can deliver and put Britain first, Farage certainly will.

I worry about our country’s leaking of sensitive and confidential information and lack of diplomacy.
Even in W.W.2 the British people were asked to be careful what they spoke of because careless talk cost lives!
Today the world is at war with political false information, mass black propaganda, cyber warfare and even the poisoning and murder by foreign agents on British soil.
Those in high positions and who are leaking our country’s intelligence must be flushed out and dealt with immediately.
The ordinary man in the street and those in the forces have more integrity and patriotism than some of those in government, politics and the civil service!
When o’h when are the powers that be going to unite the British people and the people to put their shoulder to the wheel and work together for a bright future when our country has full sovereignty and their self determination returned in full?

We can be sure the original memo was balanced. That is what we get from our rolls royce diplomatic service. What was published was a partial and edited version produced by Ms Oakeshott which was designed to hurt the Ambassador and to hurt the UK. That you jump in to attack the Ambassador and 0ur country shows your loyalties.

How can ‘you be sure the original memo was balanced’? My country right or wrong is what is a destructive and corrosive attitude. Use the traditional British yardstick which measures right and wrong – after all President Trump is half Scots. We are related to him, giving him a fair hearing is displaying loyalty to our own flesh and blood!

Our diplomatic service has not been “rolls royce” for some time-since we began to follow the American practice of appointing non-professional diplomats to key embassies-Tony’s cronies and Dave’s mates.

Well that isn’t correct Pletikosa.
Our Government does comment on leaks and has done on this occasion.
Sir John has correctly criticised the comments our ambassador has made, for the reasons he has set out.

I should wish I am my local Labour Party its gangers and gangs ‘demon’. Alas, the bad news, like in most things they have got me and it wrong. I really am no one.
If their ‘demon’ does not exist they pick on every one in their turn. I am one of many in this Pit of Despair they use and call it a rock solid Labour seat.

What is notable is how banal and uninsightful the memos were, absolutely nothing in there you couldn’t have read in the Guardian every day – how much were we paying him for these views ? I see Trump has now called him a pompous fool – hard not to laugh.

Embarrassing to say the least. Was he talking about the chaotic Tory govt? Or inept Mayhab?

His view was very subjective, extremely bias without evidence and unsubstantiated. Anyone could have read the New York Times for a better assessment! Would it not be better to assess US president and work out how to use to further UK interests!mappalling truly appalling.

If this is the best he could do why is he in such a top post? LittleJohn in the paper today hits the nail on the head.

When is the clear out from the Blaire years going to take place! Come on you have had nine years!

To make false accusation against the Head of State of our primary ally is very damaging to the UK. Whilst it is important to keep correspondents between our embassies and the FCO private I do not want to see this used to divert the story away from the harm the Ambassodor has caused.

don’t know how you can say he is biased towards one side or the other- everyone knows that Trump is an inept clown who pollutes everyone and everything all round him, yes dysfunctional too- we don’t need an ambassador to tell us that

It is of course essential that ambassadors feel able to give their frank and unvarnished opinions to the government. Lets hope the leaker is identified, sacked, disgraced, and hopefully prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. If its a hostile power as Mr hunt has somewhat implausibly suggested then we need a massive re-think as to security in such communications. if they are using email then I am qualified enough to tell them that’s not good enough. they need an encrypted means of communication.

Unfortunately the contents are revealing of a depressingly banal, un-insightful criticism of Trump and all his works. For example the ambassador says none of Trump’s domestic policies have worked. I know he’s not a businessman or economist but has he noticed US economic growth or the performance of US companies? the US is booming.

Work for the FCO on a couple of fronts then: think up a means of communicating (preferably intelligently thought through and worded) advice in confidence from embassies to the govt; and try to question left-leaning groupthink rather than unthinkingly regurgitating it.

There is always the Diplomatic Bag for secret information, but as it was an email visible to half the world, including newspapers, I cannot but help thinking it was deliberate and a crude attempt to sour relations and try to throw Brexit off yet again by Remainers.

May compounded the problem by backing the Ambassador. Kim should be recalled and replaced. Maybe Khan would like to stoke the fire a little more by having another go at Trump. He’s another who does his best to sour relations with the USA. Ego’s outweigh the interests of the country with many so called representatives of the UK.

What’s the use of keeping him there now. He should be brought home immediately before any more damage is done. To write stuff like this in an email shows a lack of judgement, unless he wanted it to be known. Seems like a sabotage mission as he is a big time Remainer having worked in Brussels. Mrs. May shows her usual lack of judgement in giving him her approval. Hanging tough with the USA can only damage this country’s interests. Why is she still there? Tory ineptitude in taking 2 months to do a leadership election which could have been done in 2 weeks. Stupid is as stupid does.

It must be made clear that this man Darrioch and May do NOT speak for the UK. Somehow these two and their like are a breed apart. Pompous doesn’t really do it justice. Our main ally in the world being ridiculed. This crazy woman should be stopped before she does something worse.
Stupid indeed but dangerously stupid.

Wow, it looks like Sir Soap, really doesn’t mind dropping the soap. He’s ready to “bend over” to accept whatever the US says. This is not a healthy relationship if our man ally can’t accept some ridicule. Pull you pants up and stand up for the UK.

Who was he sending his report back to? Was it just the PM and her assistants or was it open civil service distribution? If open, such a frank report on a controversial President wasn’t at all ambassadorial.

Then he wasn’t a ‘Rolls Royce’ Ambassador at all Rose, he was more a common or garden gossip ‘Mini’ reporting his opinion to the worker bees for salivation.

What was the benefit to the UK to have Sir Kim write this trash reporting of what he thinks of the President’s personality? It’s not as though we haven’t heard it all from the American news reporters every day since he was elected. He could have used more diplomatic high brow language, think Jacob Rees Mogg. I wonder if there were tips on how to handle this President and his team’s personality types?

Sir Kim was one of the main reasons that our UK government was so woefully ignorant about how Trump was very likely to win the election. Instead he trotted out the Democrats’ mantras, and apparently was a part of the deep state who never thought Hillary would lose, and who never wanted her to lose. Sir Kim was, in my view, very much part of the “establishment” or swamp, that is now being drained, thank goodness. In the next few months many key political figures, media figures and those in entertainment at reportedly going to be brought to justice for their roles in trying to prevent Trump becoming President, and, in the event of him becoming President, to bring him down. This is when the swamp will finally be drained.

” In the next few months many key political figures, media figures and those in entertainment at reportedly going to be brought to justice for their roles in trying to prevent Trump becoming President”

Why are Labour politicians in high dudgeon about trumps criticism of our ambassador? They themselves routinely use absurd hyperbole talking about Trump, regularly describing him as a ‘racist’ or a ‘fascist’. They have also refused to meet him. How would the UK stand with the US administration in the unthinkable circs where the anti-Semitic Marxists get into power?

The most shocking aspect of this whole debacle is the third rate, school boy standard of writing. No attempt at analysis, no attempt at advice, no attempt at imparting information that could direct and inform. I could write a better report than this and I am not paid a quarter of a million pounds per annum, don’t have his extensive contacts or enjoy a fabulous residence with concomitant luxuries like chauffeur driven cars and access to the best of everything. I have to acknowledge very reluctantly that he is reflecting accurately the current standard of competence within the diplomatic service and indeed the civil service of today. We are the laughing stock of Europe and the world, and this stupid man has now seriously offended the POTUS. What does it take these days for people to resign? No sense of duty. No sense of honour. Instead he is endorsed by our PM! Words fail me.

The ambassador’s remarks about Trumps cancelling the retaliation against the Iranian forces because of electoral reasons was particularly obnoxious. Trump had no reason to stop the military except because of loss of life when none had been lost by downing a drone. He may have regretted the senseless strikes against Syria , which killed civilians. Trump should sue the ambassador personally and the British who support theUS government should make sure that public money is not involved.

Yes, it is the end of Western civilization, shown by your use of “etc” when you should have used “et al”. This, recall, comes in quick succession to your use of “alumni” when you should have used “alumna”.

alumna, no way. The plural of alumna is alumnae for nominative and vocative, alumnas for accusative, rosarum for genitive, rosis for dative and ablative,
What about some revision of your Latin declensions?

Another day and the situation deteriorates still further. The man is surely finished in that position and this is embarrassing, even under our own already dismal circumstances. How did we sink to this?

I put it down to the lack of quality of personel. We are happy for the EU’s, Foreign External Action Service to do all our overseas work, so that politicos can employ their below standards mates. We see it everywhere.

William Hague – a good foreign secretary – today supported Sir Kim Darroch unequivocally. It is the job of an ambassador to inform the government what is going on.

And it is unquestionable the Trump is incompetent and inept. His is the worst, most chaotic administration that there has ever been. He is an ineffectual, intellectual lightweight with no moral compass and no real understanding of the main issues of the day. He is everything you would expect from the ranty self-proclaimed populists. And Sir Kim’s analysis is spot on.

The more important question is which Brexiteer leaked it. It clearly came from a Brexiteer – they are happy to politicise the civil service – and the leak was given to Isabel Oakeshott, friend of Farage and Banks and not really known for diplomatic scoops.

When the identity of the Brexiteers leaker is revealed let’s hope he or she is prosecuted to the full extent of the law – as there have to be questions about the Official Secrets Act. We will not let the Brexiteers politicise the civil service in the way they intend to. We know it is just the next step in their fascist-like power grab.

Trump has delivered a boom in the US. Faster growth and record employment delivered by tax cuts and deregulation. Trump has confronted Chinese trade cheating and IP theft in a manner quietly (not publicly obviously) supported by business around the world. Trump is at least making an attempt to solve North Korean nuclear proliferation. Trump is facing up to Iranian nuclear proliferation and sponsorship of terrorism. Trump is calling as he should for free riding EU countries to pay their share of defence and to cut protectionism.

The ambassador’s comments were banal and uninformative. I agree the leaker should be sacked. But what a let down that the person who holds the most coveted post in the diplomatic service hasn’t spotted why trump got elected, why he’s likely to get re-elected and hasn’t passed on to our own hapless govt some of the lessons of trumps success.

My guess is, you will be proved wrong in your predictions.
But we will see who leaked it soon.
The civil service has very sadly, become politicised lately due to the Blair years.
Likewise the charity sector and the quangos and the judiciary and the media.

I wrote this comment below in response to a Spectator article on Darroch in 2016. It is still relevant today and it also demonstrates again the danger of relying on the MSM for truthful delivery of news. The MSM were, and many still are, just an arm of “the establishment”:

“Darroch was completely out of touch with reality, I believe, and was apparently instead content to be part of the establishment. That meant of course that the UK government had not the faintest inkling of what was going on in DC, nor had they made any realistic preparations for a possible Trump presidency. Instead, insults and sneering apparently ruled the day. 0/10 for ambassador Darroch, I would say. (There were plenty of people who were well aware of the possibility/likelihood of a Trump victory, but they were savvy enough not to rely on the “establishment” or the tame media)”.

BBC:”The UK’s “wacky” ambassador to the US is “a very stupid guy” Donald Trump has said, amid a row over leaked emails.”
Let us hope that the British Ambassador with his upper class Norman French-cum-Czech-Slovak -Hungarian -cum-Russian upper-class orientation will take such a comment in his stride.

Do tell us GiGoEd, how being of Norman French-cum-Czech-Slovak-Hungarian-cum-Russian upper class orientation could explain why what he wrote in reports not supposed to be seen by a right-wing MoS journalist friend of Arron Banks has any impact on the fact that there was a leak somewhere in the “establishment”?
As others have said, the content of the reports is nothing new for anybody aware of Mr Trump’s twittering habits. Isn’t the real problem the leak?

Did you read anything lately about how a Brexiter?/Remoaner? mole in the Foreign Office might have been the source of those leaks?
Would it also be irrelevant that such a person is willing to destroy the career of some official just to get the plaudits from what now appears to be the most biased fringe of the UK population? (and I mean you and the other DT/Express/Sun/RT (and closely associated websites) lapping people).

But you are a Boris enthusiast who has both American and British citizenship and whose paternal great-grandfather was Circassian-Turkish journalist Ali Kemal who was a secular Muslim; Johnson’s mother is the granddaughter of a Russian Jewish immigrant and his maternal great-grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew and Orthodox Jewish rabbi.

Trying to play the whataboutery card and the racist card is a typical leftist tactic and one I am disappointed you lower yourself to use Margaret.
PS
The original post did not say “is capable of such indiscretion/ stupidity” you made that up to fit your narrative.

Incredible. All part of the current madness, and in itself, a sign of the times (‘professing themselves to be wise, they became fools’: Romans 1:22). Very sad to see though, and must be so discouraging for those in government trying to hold out for some semblance of old-fashioned sanity. Interesting that Trump said he found the Queen the most sensible of all. Well said, Mr President!

And now this evening I read, re today’s vote ref Northern Ireland: “MPs, backed the same-sex marriage amendment by 383 votes to 73, while the abortion amendment was backed 332 to 99”. You’re going in the wrong direction, guys – what future for any of you, or the country, at this rate. Abysmal!
An interesting sounding book (have read review only): “The Global Sexual Revolution: Destruction of freedom in the name of freedom” (Gabriele Kuby).

The author herself has a most interesting family background – academics who withstood the Nazi’s. She gives an excellent, lucid analysis of the situation on YouTube, such as the one posted on 26.10.16. Highly recommended.

Hunt displays his inexperience in many ways, in my view. He is not of the right calibre to be leader of a Tory Party that actually wants to represents its members. He would, I fear, be more of the same as now i.e “establishment guided” .

The first thing that needs to happen, and quickly, is the sacking of the Ambassador, and an apology to our US partners.

Next an inquiry to expose who leaked the comments. Anyone in this country who was involved should face a lengthy prison sentence…..including those of No 10 who are disgracefully standing by the saboteur.

I expect the UK ambassador to the US to employ courteous language towards his host at all times, to represent the UK favourably and to advise the UK government on how to maintain and foster good relations with the US.
I would not expect him to express his own contempt for the president of the US, and even question his suitability for the position just for holding those views.
Trump is prone to call such people “losers”, which in this case is a description that fits well.

The man comes across as a clown, unable to give subjective reports or even understand the seriousness of putting such views in email.

For the second time in my life I felt the need to write to my MP, the ambassador knows full well is usefulness is over to the UK, yet sits in office putting his career before country.

Unfortunately such views are not uncommon in our government and civil service, I know of people who fantisize of violence to people such as Nigel Farage. The new Boris administration needs to root these people out before they do harm to thye country, a smaller governmentwill be a benefit and these people show no desire to run the country, only to take orders from the EU.

You say – ‘Why use the phrase “knife fights” to describe normal arguments over tactics and policy within a government?’ Precisely because they’re not normal arguments but something more vicious and potentially destabilizing. Anyone can see that this is not a normal administration except blinkered and partizan politicians like you. His job was to flag up such dangerous divisions and he used carefully-chosen words. You claim to be a patriot but you can’t bring yourself to support a well-respected ambassador doing his job – someone who clearly cares about the US-UK relationship. You’re the one making the wrong judgements because you’ve allowed your petty Brexit project to overshadow everything else going on in politics. And you don’t like intemperate language – except when it’s by Trump himself (on an almost daily basis) or your other great hero, Boris Johnson!

Within his judgements I detect a presumption of how he thinks Presidents should behave, but only valid when they are politicians. Donald Trump is a bucaneering businessman, not a politician. He is outside tbe envelope of our ambassadors experience, which says much about the senior civil service. Having given our politicians a less than rounded view it is up to them to act on it or not.

Having said all the above, the leaker should be persued with the full vigour of the law and if he/she has signed and then contravened the Official Secrets Act, this is what any prosecution should be under. The leaker has done untold damage to UK/USA relations, and direct damage to our diplomatic service.

John Major is sub-lined on Sky News as he will use legal means to block a suspension of Parliament. He must feel some people feel it needs suspending. Given we voted Leave, how could that be? Are Remainers who will not accept democracy planning to suspend our Democratic Parliament in some way? We should all get right behind Major who wishes to lead us to Freedom from an unelected position which could also be sedentary. It must be, he’s not standing for anything of worthy note.

It’s so bloody awful seeing the UK Ambassador having to leave his job just for telling the truth, as It was not his fault, he was not the leaker- but it should also be a warning to all who harbour notions about getting future fair trading deals with them. When it comes to America it will always be America first- ‘out of the pan into the fire’- if we’re not careful.

Of course it’s always been America First Brian – always has been, always will be. What would you expect of any American President – it’s certainly not unique to Trump! And of course it’s always been EU First in Brussels – always has been, always will be.

Now we need a little UK First for a change.

We need our Politicians and Civil Service to start believing in this country – which will be quite a challenge for our Civil Service after 40 years of EU Membership. Darroch’s entire career has been EU centric and frankly it shows. He was clearly finished in Washington and has just jumped before he was pushed. Let’s hope some of his senior colleagues join him and Olly Robins before too long – we need fresh thinking and belief…

So making abusive statements is telling the truth? There was no structure to his conclusion just invective. Inept ? How would he judge inept ? Trump has achieved results for America, how is that inept ? Incompetent, isn’t putting such abusive views into a media form that is known to be leaked within the civil serpent set up incompetent ? … or maybe he was expecting his views to be leaked.

Well that’s not correct Pletikosa.
Most on here feel the leaks were wrong and need to be investigated.
But the words used by our man in America were poor and rude and revealed little more than the left wing media write all the time.

Well GiGoEd, what about clueing you up on past cables which have surfaced after some years, e.g., those from the US embassy (from Mr Melody Thomas) about the situation in Burundi in April 1972, or those sent by the Israeli FO to its diplomats regarding the expected UN support for Palestinians (June 2011). There are other similar cases, not so difficult to find, what Churchill was thinking about De Gaulle during WWII, and the other way around.
Expecting diplomats not to talk frankly in cables within what they assumed to be a secure network is for the birds.
Edward2, Tweet tweet tweet?

Totally irrelevant post hefner as you are talking about comments made by our ambassadors surfacing after many years.
There are ways of communicating securely inside government and it is pathetic that he failed to use them if he wished to “talk frankly”

Darroch is not an asset for our country in his present role and should be recalled immediately and the leaker found and prosecuted. If Hunt does not resolve this then the buck clearly stops with him, Sedwill and May.

It has been in the EU’s interests that UK influence in finance, trade and diplomacy are diminished. Whilst we are in the EU it is easy for them to constrain our actions aided and abetted by zealots such as Darroch, May and co. Hence the WA, acceleration in EU trade agreements to side line us and muddying the waters with our natural allies.

The EU and it’s friends in the UK will continue to do this whether we remain or leave and Boris or whoever must deal with this pro-EU bias throughout the establishment if we are to be truly sovereign, no mean task.

Darroch was appointed while Obama was still President and in the expectation that Clinton would follow. Doubtless he empathised them better than with Trump, and perhaps he should have been replaced soon after the Trump win by someone better equipped to relate to him.

Probably the majority of ambassadors are faced with reporting on distasteful heads of state, or at the least ones who are not sympathetic to UK policy. In reporting to the UK government it is important that they are candid. However, they need to be able to say “my government instructs me” face to face, and to have enough ears to the ground in high places to have a better information base on which to make reports and judgements about likely future developments than the local BBC stringer. It seems that in these latter respects Darroch is now lacking.

What’s done is done and there is no going back. Naturally no Head of State or his/her Government could allow such comments to be aired worldwide without response and the response in this case it appears is that our Ambassador is now no longer included or invited to high level discussions or Ambassadorial gatherings at the White House. Notwithstanding the rights or wrongs of it our Ambassador is now in the unenviable position of being so sidelined that it would appear that he is unable to fully function in his position as Ambassador and that being the case why didn’t either Bojo or the other bloke say so last night! No point in ‘fudging’ (Bojo’) or righteously defending (as the other bloke did) an Ambassador who has been so marginalised in this way that he should be recalled. WHY can’t supposedly intelligent Politicians going for higher Office be BOLD and stand up say what should be said. We’ve got enough ‘Del Boys’ in Westminster can’t we at least find a better calibre of individual to serve this Country and its people.

I see some in the infotainment industry (including the Financial Times and the Guardian) suggest Mr. Johnson’s refusal to back Sir K. Darroch was material in causing the latter to resign. It clearly was not but thank goodness for the man who may once more become the people’s Blue Boris since British interests require a fresh ambassador in Washington even if T. May and J. Hunt do not understand that.

Boris was quite right not backing the UK Ambassador, he was already finished when Trump said they wouldn’t work with him anymore . The Ambassador was leaving in 4 months time anyway.
Trump is easily offended and any short term support for the Ambassador could have threatened any future trade deal, easier to sacrifice one rather than the many.

The Ambassador seemed to just jump on the bandwagon and took the opportunity to blame Boris, no one to blame but the person who leaked the communication. Boris was in fact the one who was being diplomatic.

Sir Darroch might see gardening leave as a blessing. DC in the summer months is a hot humid sweaty place ( being a drained swamp in reality). And thats without the dressing up for Presidential meetings with the man’s sycophants.

There would be no point in that, as they would have no credibility in the Embassy, let alone in London.

It makes sense to appoint someone who can do the job of standing up for the UK diplomatically, and reporting informatively.

About John Redwood

John Redwood won a free place at Kent College, Canterbury, and graduated from Magdalen College Oxford. He is a Distinguished fellow of All Souls, Oxford. A businessman by background, he has set up an investment management business, was both executive and non executive chairman of a quoted industrial PLC, and chaired a manufacturing company with factories in Birmingham, Chicago, India and China. He is the MP for Wokingham, first elected in 1987.